J'ai faim!

Mechatronic game | 2018

In June 2018 Niklas and I had the pleasure to take part again in Eniarof in order to create a collaborative DIY funfair. Since the Eniarof took place in Malakoff, near Paris, it was called MalakoNiarof. The event was produced in collaboration with Décalab as a part of Malakoff en fête. Together with 20+ people we created and presented games and installations at different locations. Niklas and I were located mainly at La Ressourcerie, which is a wonderful mixture of a recycling center and a thrift store. There we found a giant Barbie head, which turned into an eating game. It was called J'ai faim! and the festival visitors could play the game during the festival.

Building the box Testing electronics Barbie head

Circuit schematic

Making the game

La Ressourcerie had loads of interesting old objects, furniture and textile items which we could use for making the attractions. We had found the giant Barbie head in the toys section and decided to use a pink joystick to control it. The theme of the game was eating a lot, as at least in my childhood Barbies had a very unnaturally thin appearance. We added one motor for rotating the head and a cardboard tongue connected to a solenoid. As food we chose sushi (crafted out of DIY clay), as we had been eating a lot in the local sushi restaurants.

Game status display Joystick Sushi eating with LED on

Gameplay

J'ai faim! is all about making Barbie to eat as much sushi as possible. An LED will light up next to one of the sushi pieces, and the player has to rotate the head towards it by moving the joystick left or right. Eating happens by pulling the joystick, resulting the tongue to stick out. The light display made of Neopixel LEDs shows the hunger level, which has to be kept low. Eating a wrong sushi results in getting more hungry. The sushi lights will get faster and faster, and if the player is not fast enough and makes too many mistakes, the the game is over.


In addition to J'ai faim!, my former Eniarof attraction called Seduce the Train was also presented during the festival at the local gallery called l'Atelier de curiosité urbaine.

See also:

Thank you!

Special thanks to Eniarof-founder Antonin, Charlotte from Décalab and Gwendoline from La Ressourcerie for inviting us and taking such good care of us. Warm thank you also to our great hosts Catherine and Philippe as well as to the lovely Emma and Valeska from l'Atelier de curiosité urbaine.